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The Ultimate Donkey Punch:
The King of Kong
by Christian De Matteo
Super
Is there really a human being out
there, somewhere on the planet, whose express goal
on the planet seems to be epitomizing the Ben
Stiller-portrayed bad-guy?
This is a question I must admit
I've never pondered before, and only do now as I've
gotten the answer: Billy Mitchell, 1982 Donkey
Kong World Champ. What a egomaniacal nerd.
And so damn entertaining. When up against a
truly nice guy like Steve Wiebe, it becomes very
clear that sometimes, in real life, things are truly
black and white.
I've just come from an advance
screening of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
at the excellent Jacob Burns Film Center in
Pleasantville, New York and have, accordingly just
laughed my bottom off at this documented proof of
Nerdom. I honestly thought that documentaries
were plumbing the nerdy depths with the excellent
Wordplay, which I loved, but The King of Kong
manages to funnel further into the obscure corridors
of the nerd labyrinth and pull out a handful of guys
doing something nobody else cares about.
And therein lies the success of
the documentary. Why should we care about
this? Who would? Well, as an audience
member I must now admit I do. And the reason
for this is Steve Wiebe, the best underdog of the
silver screen in many, many years (better even than
the real Underdog currently sharing screens with
him). I wonder if the director first got the
idea for the movie from the concept that people did
this, or because of the actual, specific rivalry of
these two men. It is the presence of these
two, regardless, that sell the film.
At first seeming to simply provide
another insight into the weird, wacky and wild world
of Nerd interests, the audience is swiftly swept up
in the story of Steve Wiebe, the man who would be
king, or kong, or whatever, Mario? He's sort
of lovable, hapless, kind and in need of some
cheering up. It is this that serves as his
motivation for getting into the videogaming world.
However, like many mythological heroes before him,
when he arrives in the magical kingdom, a cruel
tyrant is already ruling making it uninhabitable for
any but the sniveling sycophants he keeps around
him.
And yes, this cruel tyrant is the
man mentioned earlier who is functioning almost
entirely out of the template created by Ben Stiller
for the movie Dodgeball: He is the real White
Goodman. No, really, it's uncanny.
Along the way, believe it or not,
no matter how much you might scorn the nerdiness of
those involved, the viewer too gets taken away by
the twists, turns, left joystick moves and right
joystick moves of the film. Will Steve be able
to overthrow the Evil Overlord and Hot Sauce Maven
of Atari World, or will this be just another failed
attempt in his life to show himself more than what
people, even his parents, think? Will his
showdown at Funspot provide the forum for him to
show his true expertise below the little flashing
lights? Believe it or not, the suspense IS
palpable.
The King of Kong is engaging,
charming, laughable, sad, exciting and finally
excellent as a documentary. Just, whatever you
do, don't try and imagine what it must smell like at
Funspot.
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